Another Path
by Flame3
Summary: Darth Vader is given the option to NOT leave with Qui-Gon at Tatooine. This is an alternate version of Anakin's life. Lots of action is assured. R/R (No romance...Just Action) (Incomplete)
1. Another Path

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Another Path  
  
Author: Flame  
  
Type: Anakin Adventure/Anghst  
  
Summary: Darth Vader is given the option to NOT leave with Qui-Gon at Tatooine. This is an alternate version of Anakin's life. Lots of action is assured. R/R (No romance...Just Action) (Incomplete)  
::........................................................................::  
  
Chapter 1  
Another Path  
  
Darth Vader stood in the Death Star, staring out the window into the deep black that never ended. He stared into the deep brown of a Planet where he had spent ten years of his life. Ten years of slavery... but the most happy ten years of his life.  
  
A droid walked up beside Darth Vader and waited for him to allow him to speak.  
  
"What?" Vador asked.  
  
"Mission Complete. We have found the buried object in the sand."  
  
"Take me to it immediately," Vader said, and the droid led him to the nearest ship and they set off to Tatooine.  
  
Darth Vader arrived shortly, and was led to a large circle of armed droids, ready to fire and kill anything that wasn't authorized to be near the found object. Manual labor driods and machinse were scattered everywhere, and a large whole that was dug to find the precious object was left un-filled. When he neared the circle the droids made a space for him to walk through, and he quickly entered the space.  
  
His eyes feasted on the object in the center of the circle. Nothing brought him more hapiness, sadness, and anger than the object he saw before him.   
  
Before him he saw a casket. A very familiar casket built of scrap metal lay there, tightly fixed so none could open it. Darth Vader's soul, or what was left of it, came to brilliant sorrow as he observed the casket of Shmi Skywalker.  
  
"Leave me!" Vader told the droids, and they complied immediately.  
  
Once they were all a good distance away, Vader dropped to his knees before the casket and began to let the sorrow rush forward. His body wasn't able to produce tears anymore, but his soul ached with pain.   
  
"If I had the chance mother... I would have never left Tatooine....," he said. "I would be with you... the only person who loved me for what I was and would continue no matter how I turned."  
  
He looked up to the twin suns of Tatooine, and screamed as loud as he could. Waves of sand glided against his body as the wind picked up... but it all froze in one quick flash of light.  
  
Darth Vader stood up and gazed at the time-frozen world around him. Then a ball of light opened and a shadowed figure appeared in the center. He could only make out long hair and a hooded robe, which was gently floating about it.  
  
"Your wish can be granted, Anakin," the shadowed figure said with an echoing voice.  
  
"Who are you?" Vader said.  
  
"I am the one who can help you, Anakin," it replied.  
  
"Anakin is no more," Darth Vader said with a disgusted tone.  
  
"But he can be. All you have to do is agree and you can go back to Tatooine. It will be eight years after you denied Qui-Gon Jinn to be trained as a Jedi."  
  
"What are the catches?" Darth Vader asked. "There can't be a deal this rich without you wanting me to give something in return."  
  
"Your memories," the shadowed figure said.   
  
"What memories?" Darth Vader questioned.  
  
"Your memories of everything that took place after you left your mother."  
  
"I don't want them...," he said. "But what do you want with them?"  
  
"To destroy them," it replied. "These memories are fit for no being in the universe."  
  
"Then work your magic," Darth said unbelievingly.  
  
"You will see," it said, and with a flash Darth Vader took another path.  
  
::........................................................................::  
As you probably noticed, I seriously rushed through this chapter. I am REALLY ready to start Anakin's new life because I have so many outstanding ideas for him. So please move on to the next chapter (when it's up) before you judge it. :) 


	2. A New Home

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Another Path  
  
Author: Flame  
  
Type: Anakin Adventure/Anghst  
  
Summary: Darth Vader is given the option to NOT leave with Qui-Gon at Tatooine. This is an alternate version of Anakin's life. Lots of action is assured. R/R (No romance...Just Action) (Incomplete)  
::........................................................................::  
  
Chapter 2  
A New Home  
  
Anakin woke up on his ruff bed, tossing his thin and worn blanket asside. He stretched and pulled his tunic over his head.  
  
He walked into the kitchen and saw his mother busily working in the kitchen. But she turned and gave Anakin a big smile... like she always did.   
  
"Good morning, honey," she said. "Breakfest will be ready in a minute."  
  
"Okay, mom," Anakin replied sitting at the table. "But could you hurry up a bit? Watto will be mad if I'm late."  
  
"All done," she said handed him a plate full of nausage and a glass of water.  
  
Anakin chewed and swallowed as fast as he could and then rushed to Watto's shop to work, but not without kissing his mother goodbye. When he reached the shop, he found Watoo waiting there impatiently by the counter.  
  
"Your late!" He said, flapping his wings and flying closer to Anakin. "You starting to stretch your stay boy, and I wont hesitate to sell you if you don't start picking up."  
  
"That's what you've been saying to me for the last 10 year's Watto," Anakin said with a mischevious grin. "I'm still waiting for you to do it."  
  
Watto gave an entertained grunt and quickly assigned Anakin some work.  
  
"Organize the tool room, boy."  
  
Anakin grunted his reply and slowly walked to do his work. Nobody came to the shop today... nor has anyone came to the shop in the last week or two. It never crossed Anakin's mind that Watto might be running short on money, and that his gambling to make up for it had been proving unsuccessful.  
  
By the end of the day, Watto flew in the tool room, and saw that Anakin had just about finished it up. But now he had to break the news to him.  
  
"Boy," he said landing next to the sitting Anakin, who had busied himself with fixing some of the electronic tools.  
  
"Huh?" Anakin said, look up from his work and at him.  
  
"You know how business hasn't been so grand lately, don't you?" Watto asked, trying to break it to him easily.  
  
"Yeah," Anakin said. "So... have you figured out why?"  
  
"No," he said lifting up his short arm and scratching the back of his head. "But I've found a way to bring back a little profit."  
  
"How is that?" Anakin asked. "Are you gonna open up a food shop to?"  
  
Watto chuckled a bit at the joke, but then he turned serious again.  
  
"No that's not it, boy," Watto said. "It's something a little more drastic."  
  
"Well... go on, tell me!" Anakin replied, becoming more interested, not noticing Watto's unusal behaivor.  
  
"I'm gonna have to sell you," Watto replied, turning his back to the bewildred boy.  
  
Anakin just sat there, mouth open, mind foggy, and fingers numb.  
  
"Um... funny joke Watto!" Anakin said, forcing a smile.  
  
"Boy! I'm serious!" Watto yelled. "Go home! Pack your things you want take with you, your leaving in the morning. I've already told your mother."  
  
With that Watto quickly flew out of the room, and Anakin stood on the ground... frozen with suprise. But his mind snapped back and the first thing he could possibly do was run home...  
  
::........................................................................::  
::........................................................................::  
::........................................................................::  
  
Anakin stood in front of his home, still not believing what was happening. His mother stood in their house doorway, tears streaming down her face.  
  
A man had came to take Anakin to Alderaan to his new home.  
  
Shmi begged and pleaded with Watoo to not go through with it... but he needed the money.   
  
In Alderaan there was no slavery allowed, legally anyhow. But the man assured him that what they were doing was perfectly legal.   
  
But not matter how legal, how much money he was worth, nothing could change what his home really was... and nothing would make his mom's tears go away.   
  
His mom couldn't find the nerve to let go... 


	3. Skye of the Jedi

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Another Path  
  
Author: Flame  
  
Type: Anakin Adventure/Anghst  
  
Summary: Darth Vader is given the option to NOT leave with Qui-Gon at Tatooine. This is an alternate version of Anakin's life. Lots of action is assured. R/R (No romance...Just Action) (Incomplete)  
::........................................................................::  
  
Chapter 3  
Skye of the Jedi   
  
Anakin was on board a transportation ship from Tatooine, to Alderaan. The man who was escorting him was sitting next to him, keeping a close eyes on him so that he didn't run away.  
  
Anakin didn't have much of a choice though. He had a pair of metal locks on his hands that prevented him from doing anything. The escorter still didn't want to take any chances though. For some reason Anakin seemed to be a very valuable treasure.  
  
"Are you feeling alright, boy?" The man asked in the middle of the trip.   
  
Anakin was extremely cold. Because of this, his skin had turned an unnatural pale, and he felt awful.  
  
"I'm... cold," he said in between shivers.  
  
"I'll go get you a blanket," the man said, and got up and walked away.  
  
He eventualy returned, throwing Anakin a ragged blanket, and walked off, leaving Anakin with a warning.  
  
"If you try anything funny, boy," he said. "I wont hesitate to stun you."  
  
He walked off and Anakin adjusted the blanket as best he could, considering his cuffs. He sat on the metal becnh by himself for a while, but soon enough a hooded figure walked over and sat next to him. It turned and looked at Anakin through the shadow of the hood, and then lowered it, revealing a white-haired girl with abnormal light blue eyes.   
  
"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked.  
  
"A m.. man is sitting there," Anakin replied, still extremly cold.  
  
"Whats wrong?" She asked. "Are you sick?"  
  
Anakin looked at her with weak eyes and she seemed to know the answer.  
  
"Well... can I get you anything?" She asked.  
  
"A better blanket," Anakin mumbled.  
  
She giggled a little and then stood up and reached under her cloak. Anakin could see under the part a blaster gun... but beside it was something cylinder shaped. He looked at it and she noticed where his gaze had waondered off to.  
  
"Oh... do you know what that is?" She asked, but Anakin just continued looking. "It's a light-saber."  
  
"Really?" Anakin asked, looking amazed. "This means... your a Jedi?"  
  
She nodded her head. She closed her cloak, not wanting any other people around to notice because some people tended to be a bit rude when near a Jedi. She of course had pulle dout what she was looking for. It was a leather bag which looked full of something.   
  
She opened it and pulled out a large brown bar and broke it in half.   
  
"Would you like a piece?" She asked Anakin.  
  
"What is it?" He replied.  
  
"Oh...," she said. "You aren't from a city... are you?"  
  
"I'm from Tatooine," Anakin said.   
  
"Well," she said. "This is a candy from Coruscant, where I came from before I came to Tatooine."  
  
She then looked like she remembered something important held out her hand.   
  
"Oh," she said. "By the way, my name is Skye."  
  
"Anakin," he said, pulling out cuffed hands from under his blanket.   
  
She looked at Anakin with disbelieving eyes. "Your... your a slave?"  
  
For the first time in years... Anakin felt so ashamed and disgraced that he felt he could die on the spot.  
  
"Yes," Anakin said, turning his head to try and escape the shame.  
  
"How?" She asked anxiously.  
  
"I... was born one," he said, still not turning his head.  
  
"I can't believe it," she said. "Are you an orphan?"  
  
"No," Anakin said... sad memories of his morther flashing through his mind. "I was sold and seperated from my mother."  
  
"How awful!" She said, her facial expression showing her disbelief and horror.   
  
She then grabbed his chin and made his face turn towards hers. Her extremely light-blue eyes met his deep blue ones, and she looked into the depths.  
  
"Anakin," she said. "I promise you that I will find a way to free you."  
  
"I wish it were true," Anakin said. "But there is more than cuffs keeping in slavery."  
  
"Even if I have to kill everyone on this ship," she said with a tone... unlike her own. "I will get you off here a free slave."  
  
Anakin could feel the violence in her tone and suddenly became afraid... 


	4. Freedom

::........................................................................::  
Another Path  
  
Author: Flame  
  
Type: Anakin Adventure/Anghst  
  
Summary: Darth Vader is given the option to NOT leave with Qui-Gon at Tatooine. This is an alternate version of Anakin's life. Lots of action is assured. R/R (No romance...Just Action) (Incomplete)  
::........................................................................::  
  
Chapter 4  
Freedom  
  
Skye looked around for anything that might cause a distraction. Nothing seemed to pop out at her, but she kept looking... hoping.  
  
Anakin looked at her... wondering why she would want to help him. He just knew this mission of hers would fail, but he had small traces of hope sprouting in his mind.  
  
"Your sitting in my spot, woman," said a voice in front of them.  
  
The escorter was impatiently standing and glaring at Skye. Skye knew this must be the man that was taking Anakin to the slave owner. She stood up and made only a small space in between their bodies.  
  
"Are you the escorter of this slave?" She asked.  
  
"What's it to ya?" He asked.  
  
She lifted her right hand and let the loose sleeve of her cloak fall, revealing some of the pale skin of her arm. She waved it in front of the man's face and spoke.  
  
"You will give me the keys to the slave's cuffs," she said in a voice that wasn't optional.  
  
The escorter's eyes seemed to loose all free will and he nodded his head, taking a ring of keys from his pocket and handing them to Skye.  
  
"You will now go away and get near us again," she said, and he replied by walking off to where he came from.  
  
Skye instantly turned around and sat down again on the bench next to the dumbfounded Anakin. She pulled up his blanket and stuck the key in the hole of one of his cuffs and unlocked it. She did the same to the other and then dropped the key and cuffs under the bench.  
  
Anakin started wringing his wrists, which had lost some circulation because they were on a bit tight. A circular mark was visible on both wrists to prove this.  
  
"Now listen carefully," Skye said. "Soon we'll reach the Alderaan port. We will get of this ship and then board a ship to Coruscant. Hopefully when we get there I can find someone to remove that chip inside of your body. Are you with me so far?"  
  
Anakin squinted his eyes and then asked his question, skeptical on how easy this was.  
  
"How do you know this is going to work?" Anakin asked.  
  
"I told you... even if I have to take every life on this ship to get you off, then I will," Skye said smiling... even though the topic wasn't something to smile about.  
  
"Why are you helping me?" Anakin asked, giving another shiver.  
  
"Because... because your human and you don't deserve this!" Skye said looking out a window and noticing their location. "We'll talk about this later because were at Alderaan."  
  
They both stood up and casualy walked to the unloading area. Anakin had brought the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, which came all the way down to his knees. He was still desperately trying to keep warm. It wasn't too much later that they started to land at a large transportation ship port. The doors opened after they landed and Skye and Anakin suspiciously walked out. Skye then desperately looked for a sign that could tell her which ship was leaving for Coruscant. She knew there had to be one... but where?  
  
Anakin wasn't much of a reader... he limited schooling on Tatooine, so he knew he couldn't help her locate it to easily. But after walking through large crowds, Skye finally gave a sigh of relief when she saw a neon sign stating in big bold letters 'Coruscant'.  
  
"Here it is!" Skye said happily. "I'll go pay for our tickets. You wait here."  
  
Anakin nodded and leaned against a pole, holding his blanket tight around his shoulders. All the people around him made him nervous, not to mention that he felt a little embarrassed watching people his age walking past him wearing more distinct and expensive clothing. He knew his oversized tunic and torn pants weren't exactly the most admirable things to wear... but it was all he had...  
  
A girl his age, standing on the other side of the stream of grumpy people, was making eye contact with him. She had another girl she was talking to standing near her, and apparently they were talking about him.  
  
Anakin knew they were talking about how he looked. He knew he was strange to these people... probably because most of them lived sheltered lives on Alderaan. He was covered in dirt and to make things worse, he felt that he could vomit because of the intense cold he was experiencing.  
  
Finally the girl quit looking and talking and slipped through the stream of people, her friend tagging along, and stood in front of him. The girl that he had noticed first had curly brown hair and brown eyes. Her friend had black hair with brown eyes and cracked a big smile at Anakin when they came in front of him.  
  
"Hey," said the first girl. "Where are you from?"  
  
Anakin didn't reply, he just anxiously looked for Skye.   
  
"I guess he's shy," said the friend. "I would to if I were dressed like that."  
  
"Your mean!" Said the other girl smiling a little. "Maybe he can't help it!"  
  
"Well... he is kind of cute," said the friend. "But he's filthy... they probably don't take baths where he's from."  
  
"And if you keep it up you will need more than a bath to fix you," said a voice to the left of Anakin.   
  
Skye was standing there, furious about how the girls were talking about him.   
  
"Who do you think you are?" Asked the friend.   
  
"I'm the person who'll send you to the hell where you belong if you don't leave," said Skye, her glare at the girls never tainting.  
  
"Let's go Mal," said the girl with brown hair. "We don't have time to mess with the lower class people of this place."  
  
The two girls turned around and strutted off to the other side of the crowd. Skye looked at Anakin, whose head was hung low, trying to fight off the sadness.  
  
"Anakin," Skye said frowning. "Who cares what they think about you. Some day those words will come back to haunt them!"  
  
Anakin raised his head and looked at her with watery eyes. He wished he had remained with the escort man. He might have lived a better life.  
  
"Come on, Anakin," Skye said. "We'll talk about this later. The ship is leaving soon."  
  
She grabbed Anakins arm and directed him to the transport ship. They entered the door, which revealed a much more luxurious inside. Instead of benches and a floor covered with sand, they had tables, couches, an infirmary, and a place to get food.   
  
Anakin looked around… amazed... but thoughts of the girls talking about came back into his mind like a tidal wave. They would probably ride in a ship like this... he didn't deserve to travel in something like this...  
  
Skye guided him to a table. She pointed to a chair and Anakin sat in it, while she sat on one directly across the table.  
  
"Mission accomplished," she said with a relief.   
  
But she didn't know that there was much more trouble getting to Coruscant than they planned on... 


	5. Last Resort

::........................................................................::  
Another Path  
  
Author: Flame  
  
Type: Anakin Adventure/Anghst  
  
Summary: Darth Vader is given the option to NOT leave with Qui-Gon at Tatooine. This is an alternate version of Anakin's life. Lots of action is assured. R/R (No romance...Just Action) (Incomplete)  
::........................................................................::  
  
Chapter 4  
Last Resort  
  
Anakin looked down at the cloth that covered the table Skye and he were sitting at. He lifted his hand up and wiped away a speck of food that was on it only because it bothered him.  
  
Skye sat there, guessing that he would like to be left alone. She couldn't believe those two brats would talk about him like that. If only they knew what he had been through... and what he was currently going through.  
  
"No," she whispered. "People like them would never understand..."  
  
"What?" Anakin asked.   
  
Skye snapped back from her trance and the solem face turned into a forced smile.   
  
"Oh... nothing, Anakin," she said. "I was just thinking about how things were going."  
  
"Out loud?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah... it's a bad habbit," she said.  
  
Anakin lifted an eyebrow and looked back down at the table. He was still quite upset about what the girls had told him earlier. He knew that he probably was one of the first slaves that they have ever seen... but he wondered why he had to be the first. Why did he have to keep suffering?  
  
"Anyways," Skye said, grabbing Anakin's attention again. "In less than an hour we'll be in Coruscant. This ship travels pretty fast."  
  
"What am I going to do when we get there?" Anakin asked.  
  
"Well, first of all we're going to find away to remove whatever is inside of your body that identifies you as a slave. I know a doctor on Coruscant that owes me a small favor. I'm pretty sure he can help. Then I guess maybe I could find you a job and a place to stay."  
  
"You're not going to stay with me?" Anakin asked... a bit worried about being on his own.  
  
"Well... I do have a job to attend to," she said smiling. "You'll be fine on your own. All you have to do is learn to defend yourself."  
  
"And how do you suppose I could do that?" Anakin asked.   
  
"Simple," Skye said smiling. "I'll give you a gun, and you can probably take it from there."  
  
Anakin chuckled a little and looked back down at the table.  
  
"The ship will dock in approximately ten minutes," said a voice over a PA system.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Skye asked. "We're at Coruscant! You're free!"  
  
Ankain just grunted. This was to easy... there had to be a catch...  
  
When the ship finally landed, Skye and Anakin readied to get off. Skye wasn't worried at all about getting caught. She felt that all the troubles were left behind them on Alderaan.  
  
They headed towards the door, but were stopped by a attendent. He grabbed anakin by the arm and picked up a radio.  
  
"I think a found the escaped slave you were searching for," he said into the radio.   
  
Skye's eyes filled with worry. She pulled back her arm and punched the attendent between the eyes and grabbed Anakin's hand.  
  
"Run!" She yelled.  
  
Anakin's body filled with the energy of being scared and he sped off with Skye.  
  
They raced through the port, searching for some way to hide until it was safe. Guards were searching the whole port for a girl with white hair and a escaped slave from Tatooine.  
  
The guards had blocked off all exits, leaving Skye and Anakin with little hope. Skye looked around them franticly. She knew they were done for... that she would be trialed and that Anakin would be sent to Alderaan to be a slave...  
  
She ran hopelessly into the commercial area of the port... and a shine of white caught her eye. She turned quickly to see a white speeder sitting in front of a "Rent-a-Speeder" station. It was a topless vehicle, letting only a windshield protect them from anything that might fly around in traffic. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed Anakin and drug into the store. The clerk was a blue male Twi'lek. He was very large and grumpy, but seemed like the type that would do anything for money.  
  
"What do ya' want?" He asked.   
  
"I want that car on display!" Skye said franticly, looking behind them at the door to see if any guards had come in yet.  
  
"That's not for rent... but can I interest you in...," the Twi'lek began, but was stopped by Skye pulling out her light saber and letting a light blue beam shoot out.  
  
"Give me the damn keys!" She yelled, dropping more than enough credits on the counter.   
  
"Take 'em!" He said throwing her the keys to her and backing off.   
  
She ran out, and Anakin followed her and hopped in the white speeder. Skye put the key in the engine and started the speeder and they began to rise in the air. They were about to pull into the stream of traffic that led away from the port when a guard speeder pulled up next to them.  
  
"Put your hands up and get out of the car!" Said someone over a microphone.   
  
"Damn!" Skye yelled. She hit her foot hard on the accelerator and tried to out race the guards, getting deeper and deeper inside of Coruscant..   
  
"Fire!" She heard the guard yell, and so followed many shots from blasters.  
  
"Get down, Anakin!" She yelled... but it was to late.  
  
A sizziling sound followed by a yell of agony could be heard. A beam had managed to hit Anakin on his left shoulder.   
  
"Anakin!" She yelled, but she didn't have time to worry about him. She knew he was hurt... but she had to save them both.   
  
She pulled out her own blaster and turned around and shot at the speeder. It shot back and she ducked to avoid the blasts. This continued for a couple of minutes until finally Skye managed to hit one of the engines on the side, forcing the speeder to land.  
  
She sighed with relief and looked over at Anakin, who was clutching his wounded shoulder. It was worse than she thought it was. It hurt enough to make thin tears come out of Anakin's eyes, though they were shut tight.  
  
"What am I going to do?" She asked herself.  
  
Only one thought of where she could go came up... and she knew she wasn't welcome there anymore.  
  
"No," she said. "I can't go there... but it's my only choice."  
  
"Skye," Anakin said, coughing from pain. "I think I'm dying."  
  
"It's going to be alright Anakin," Skye said dropping the blaster from her hand and place it on Anakin's hand that was clutching the wound. "I'm going to take you to someone who can help..."  
  
It was decided. Skye would go to the place that shunned her. The place that would turn her away no matter what condition she was in... but she had to take the chance... she had to help Anakin.   
  
Skye directed the speeder strait to the Jedi temple...  
  
::........................................................................::  
Just a friendly reminder that this is NOT a romance! Some people might get that idea, but I assure you Anakin will remain single the entire story! In case you haven't figured it out yet... I HATE ROMANCES! :( 


End file.
